The Duchess of Cambridge has been crowned the Queen of the Decks after discovering a hidden talent for DJ-ing.

Kate proved she could rock the house better than William when the couple tried their hand at scratching vinyl records during a visit to a youth project in Adelaide.

The royal couple were welcomed to the suburb of Elizabeth by 15,000 cheering fans who had turned out to greet them in the sunshine.

At first neither seemed keen to have a go on the turntables, each insisting it was a job for the other.

William, 31, told his wife "It's all yours", gesturing for her to come forward, but Kate, laughing, demurred and said: "William's got lots more experience than I have."

The 32-year-old Duchess, who wore a pale pink outfit by Alexander McQueen, took up the challenge first and, coached by DJ Shane Peterer, 28, started off hesitantly but soon got the hang of it.

As her confidence grew, she laughed and gave a thumbs-up as her audience cheered and applauded her new-found skills.

William then stepped up to try scratching, moving the record backwards and forwards so the deck's needle made a noise in the groove.

But his efforts were not as good as his wife's, prompting Mr Peterer to suggest he should not give up the day job just yet.

The DJ said: "She was fantastic but he can fly a helicopter. So, horses for courses."

The royal couple went to the DJ-ing lesson at a community music centre called Northern Sound System, and were on a mission to see a different side of Australian life in Adelaide.

They went to the garden suburb of Elizabeth, built in an era of optimism in the 1950s and named after the Queen, to meet young people and promote efforts to regenerate the area.

Elizabeth is one of a number of once-thriving blue-collar suburbs which have seen the industrial jobs that attracted their original settlers disappear, leaving high youth unemployment and a reputation for crime and violence.

Many of the original settlers were "Ten Pound Poms" who came to Adelaide from Britain at the invitation of the South Australian state government on assisted passage on ships with the promise of "sunshine and oranges".

But the jobs they came for, and now taken on by their descendants, are disappearing, with many employers closing their operations or planning to shut factories.

During their visit, William and Kate unveiled a plaque for a planned new office development named Prince George Plaza after their baby son.

It will be the focal point of a blueprint to make Elizabeth the second biggest business centre in the state.

The royal couple arrived in the city after spending the night camping under the stars in a boutique resort at Uluru.

Outside the music centre, they watched a skateboarding display in a nearby skate park and were presented with a customised board for George.

The gift had the baby's name painted on it and, as a reminder of where it had come from, it was also adorned with the image of two kangaroos and two Australian flags.

Some of the crowd called out to the Duke to "have a go on it" but he politely declined and handed the skateboard to someone in his entourage.

William showed his creative side when he used a spray paint can to make street art, holding a mask over his nose and mouth as he added to a design.

He first watched a team of painters from the Aerosol Angels group, which encourages young people to express themselves by creating graffiti art at the centre in a controlled way rather than by defacing public buildings.

When it was his turn, he added to a mural design that was part of a panel making up the name Playford, the area the royal couple were visiting.

Artist Casey Zechef, 16, said: "I asked him if he would like to have a paint. He said yes, so I got him to paint a bit of blue. He loved it. He didn't want to stop. He said it was fantastic - it was so easy.

"He was a natural at it. I was very surprised at how good he did. When you use a spray can for the first time some people don't use it so well. You have to get used to it. But he was a natural."

The 16-year-old painted baby George's skateboard and she said: "They loved it. They loved the kangaroos on each side. They thought it was amazing."

With the spray painting over, the royal couple watched a BMX riding display and followed their host 15-year-old Luke Haldenby up the steps to a viewing platform.

He said proudly: "I think I was chosen to do it because I know my stuff. I've got my brother to thank for that because he got me into riding - and that's what I told the Duchess."

Inside the Northern Sound System centre, William and Kate met young rap artists, dancers and other musicians.

William talked to Mark Reilly, a 19-year-old wheelchair-bound rapper who told him about his love of hip hop.

He asked the second in line to the throne what type of music he liked.

William replied: "I quite like house music. I like my house music. I like a bit of rock and roll, a bit of R&B. I'm not a big heavy metal fan. I'd like to be but I'm not."

They then went inside a room to talk for about 15 minutes to a group of half a dozen young people aged 14 to 20 about some of the issues they face growing up in the neighbourhood.

In another part of the building, the couple were treated to a performance by some of the young musicians and dancers who have honed their talents at the centre.

Singer Tkay Maidza, 18, who has just won a recording contract and is tipped for stardom, belted out an African electro tune.

An indigenous group performed a traditional dance, a choral group sang and a group of break dancers called Remedy entertained the Duke and Duchess.

There was no sign of the couple showing any desire to dance but Kate mischievously suggested that her husband secretly wanted to get on the floor.

Dancer Angie Kaoschk, 26, said she asked Kate: "Do you reckon I'll be able get him to dance?" and she said the Duchess replied: "Secretly, he'd love to try."

The 26-year-old said that William intervened and stated: "It would take a few drinks to do that."

But she added: "He promised he'll do some popping next time."

Later in the bright sunshine, the couple were driven a short distance through a sea of cheering fans to the local council's Playford Civic Centre, where they went on a walkabout.

Kate went down one side of the street and William the other. "We want Kate, we want Kate," the crowd who had said hello to William chanted.

The Duke made one fan happy even if he did not get the chance to speak to him.

Alex Jones, a Liverpudlian who emigrated to Adelaide in 1986, was standing on the front row with his wife Julia and children Liam, 12, and Victoria, nine. They had got up at 4.30am and arrived there at 6.45am to get a good place, around six hours before the couple reached the civic centre.

Mr Jones was wearing a Liverpool football club shirt and had his club's banner draped over the barricade. He said: "Prince William pointed at it, laughed and said Liverpool. He stopped just short of us but it was great.

"It's a good day. David Moyes gets sacked and I get to see Prince William in the same day."

Outside the civic centre, the couple unveiled a plaque to mark the planned Prince George Plaza, which will be at the heart of the area's regeneration.

Inside they met young people at a reception in honour of those working for the community. Among them was Emily Jaworek, director of estate agency Attainable Real Estate, who does voluntary work with young people in the area.

Ms Jaworek, 27, an Aborigine from the Larrikia group in Darwin, said William told her he had a didgeridoo at home and had played it every now and again since his youth.

She added: "He said he got the chance to try out playing a didgeridoo in Uluru."

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